The system constructs both single and double flight connections using global flight schedules and the minimum connecting times stipulated by airports and airlines. The system allows you to set a connecting window for single connections, which form a substantial part of total connection traffic.
As depicted in Figure 1, the interface enables the specification of both a short connect window (in minutes) and a maximum connection window. Single connections exceeding the short connect window duration incur a traffic penalty, adjustable through the Long Dwell Time Penalty control. The default penalty value is 0.5, implying that a single connection with a dwell time beyond the short connect window will receive only 50% of the traffic it would otherwise obtain if its connecting time fell within this window. Altering this value to 0.4, for instance, means such connections will receive 60% of their potential traffic.
The Maximum Single Connect Window setting allows for the exclusion of all connections that exceed a specified dwell time in analyses. Both the Short Single Connect Windows and the Maximum Single Connect Window settings can vary for different types of connections (online vs. interline) and geographic scopes (domestic to domestic, domestic to international, international to domestic, and international to international). Generally, domestic connections have shorter dwell times due to more available flight options.
Regarding double connections, the system focuses solely on the total dwell time across two stops, applying appropriate traffic penalties based on this duration. Default penalty values are set at 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6 for total dwell times of 4-8 hours, 8-12 hours, and 12-24 hours, respectively. This means that double connections with these dwell times will receive 80%, 60%, and 40% of the traffic they would have attained if their total dwell time was less than 4 hours.
The options to Include Single Connections and Include Double Connections are checkboxes in the interface, and they are synchronized with corresponding checkboxes in the QSI Factors tab.